The present invention relates to a medical image service method, medical software service method, medical image central management server apparatus, medical software central management server apparatus, medical image service system and medical software service system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a medical image service method, medical software service method, medical image central management server apparatus and medical software central management server apparatus which can reduce the work of managing medical images and medical software, relative to individual management thereof, at the installation site of a medical image diagnosis apparatus, and a medical image service system and medical software service system which can reduce the work of management and image processing relative to individual management and image processing.
In general, medical images taken at a hospital are accumulated in a local storage device in the hospital for management. For example, the images are accumulated on a hard disk device attached to an MRI apparatus or a CT apparatus. So that medical images taken at one hospital can be used at another hospital, a medical information service system is known which sends the medical images from a terminal in the former hospital to a terminal in the latter hospital via a network.
In addition, a hospital installs and manages the medical software (application programs) necessary for operating its medical image diagnosis apparatuses independently of other hospitals. The medical software programs used to operate MRI apparatuses and CT apparatuses, for example, are frequently improved, so that it is necessary to install patch software to upgrade the installed medical software every time an improvement is made.
When medical images are accumulated in a local storage device as in the past, the following problems arise:
(1) An MR image or a CT image has a relatively large data size. For example, an MR image with 256×256 dots and two-byte intensity has a data size of 128 kilobytes. However, a local storage device often has a storage capacity intended only for minimum practical use in a common hospital because of restriction on cost or the like, and the device cannot perform well in a hospital which requires an especially large number of images taken or an especially long image storage period. For example, assuming that three MRI apparatuses are installed in one hospital, and each MRI apparatus takes 1,000 images (=assuming the number of patients to be 20, and the number of images taken per patient to be 50) a day, the data size will be 128 megabytes a day and will be 37.5 gigabytes a year (assuming the number of operation days to be 300), which leads to difficulty in accumulating and managing MR images over many years in the instrument having a small storage capacity.
(2) In order to use a medical information service system, it is necessary for the sender and the recipient to make a contract with each other. In other words, each party must make as many contracts as the number of partners it has, which is troublesome. Accordingly, the number of partners is limited to a small number in practice.
(3) In order to use a medical information service system, the user needs to connect the partner's address by inputting the address through a terminal. When the number of the partners is large, the user cannot remember all of their addresses. The work of searching for a partner's address therefore takes place every time the address is needed, which is troublesome. Accordingly, the number of partners is limited to a small number in practice.
Moreover, when a medical image diagnosis apparatus performs image processing on a medical image, the following problems arise:
(1) If image processing is executed simultaneously with processing for imaging of a subject, the speed of one or both of the processing operations is liable to be lowered, and the processing time is prolonged in proportion.
(2) A separate image processing program must be installed in each medical image diagnosis apparatus. In other words, only a purchaser of the image processing program can use the program.
Furthermore, when medical software for medical image diagnosis apparatuses are separately managed in individual hospitals as in the past, the following problems occur:
(1) Each time new medical software is released, the hospitals must install it separately, which is time-consuming. Moreover, the work of software version management also falls on the hospital and is not an easy task.
(2) Since medical software can be updated only after the hospital obtains it as patch software recorded on a storage medium (such as an FD or MO), the time of the actual update is delayed relative to the release date. This is especially inconvenient when new hardware is introduced (for example, a new type of RF coil is installed in an MRI apparatus).